Private companies as well as the military use blimps for persistent wide area mass surveillance. The systems include Gorgon Stare as well as radar and other systems.
always jumping to the nefarious. "provide a persistent surveillance system to locate and deter narcotic trafficking and homeland security threats" makes sense, given the absolutely massive length of the borders and the amount of area that needs to be surveilled. as usual, the people criticizing homeland security efforts are so insulated that they think its all just evil government stuff, rather than the fact that their safe lives are a product of this strength.
Is there any type of surveillance that would be "too much," assuming it was intended for the same purpose?
Is there any reason to doubt the intentions or execution of US govt. surveillance programs?